Flying machine



May 21, 1935. A. FLETTNER 2,002,237

FLYING MACHINE Filed Jan. 27, 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 1' iy/MM Affyy 1935-A. FLETTNER FLYING MACHINE Filed Jan. 27. 1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 I/Var/[01 14/2/00 Definer y 1935- v A. FLETTNER 2,002,287

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5 Sheets-Sheet 4 May 21, 1935. A. FLETTNER FLYING MACHINE Filed Jan. 27,1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented May 21, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEAnton Flcttner, Berlin, Germany Application January 27, 1933, Serial No.653,768

. r In Germany February 2, 1932 Claims.

My invention relates to flying machines and more especially to that kindof machines in which awing or wings of the single lever type rotatingabout a substantially vertical axis, in which the fuselage is suspended,supports and/or lifts the craft.

In the flying machine according to the present invention the wings arearticulated to a balance member, rotatably mounted on the fuselage, in

0 such manner as to be capable of substantially ver-v ance memberitself.

In the drawings ailixed to this specification and forming part thereof anumber of flying machines embodying my invention are illustrateddiagrammatically by way'of example.

In the drawings Figs. 1 and 2 are end view and plan view, respectively,of a machine in which two wings are articulated to a balance beampivoted to the vertical shaft.

Figs. 3 and 4 are similar views of a machine hav-,

ing two pairs of wings connected with the shaft in a similar manner.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a craft having its wings articulated to akind of swash plate, the wings being moreover connected to the shaft byother means.

Fig. 6 is a vertical section of such a connection drawn to a largerscale, and

Fig. 7 is a plan view thereof, showing the leverage as applied to athree-wing structure.

Figs. 8 and 9am an elevation and plan view, respectively, of a craft thewings of which are articulated to the shaft, but made interdependent bya swash arrangement of a different kind.

Fig. 10 is an elevation showing a modification of the arrangementillustrated in Figs. 8 and 9, and

Fig. 11 is an elevation partly in longitudinal section of a craft havingthe wing shaft connected to an impeller wheel mounted to the rear of thefuselage.

Fig. 12 illustrates a modification of the arrangement last shown, inwhich the impeller is mounted directly behind the propeller.

Referring to the drawings and first to Figs. 1 and 2 I is the fuselageand 2 is the vertical shaft mounted in the fuselage. 3 is a balance beamor double-armed lever pivoted to the top end of shaft 2 at I so as to beable to oscillate in vertical direction. To the ends of the lever 3 arearticulated the wings 5 and 6 at l and 8 for free independent verticalOscillation.

Supposing the wings to rotate in clockwise direction wing 6 rotatingcounter to the flying wind will be lifted as shown in Fig. 1 and itspoint of articulation 8 will be lifted correspondingly, beingcapable ofturning about point 4. In consequence 5 thereof the point ofarticulation I of wing 5, which is rotating substantially in thedirection of the flying wind, will be depressed together with the wingitself, the centrifugal forces, which'act on the two wings, tendingtocounteract the move-. 10 ment of the balance beam 3.

In Figs 3 and 4 is shown a craft having its wings arranged substantiallyas shown in Figs. 1 and 2. However, here four wings are provided, twodiametrically opposite wings being connected 15 with each other by beingarticulated to a balance beam. The wings H and I2 are articulated to theends of a balance beam l3 pivoted to the vertical shaft II at IS. Theother pair of wings I6, H are articulated to the ends of a balance beamll 20 pivoted to the forked end I9 of the shaft at 20.

In the modification illustratedinFigs. 5 and 6 the balance beam ispivoted to the top end of the shaft by means of a universal joint 54,thus playing the role of a swash member. The bal- 25 ance beam 55 hasthe form of a casing in the rim portion of which are loosely mountedjournals 56. The inner ends of the journals are connected to the top endof the shaft 51 by links 58, 59 which prevent the journals 58 from 3turning relative to the shaft, so that the wings 60 articulated to thejournals 56 are prevented from oscillating in other than verticaldirection, while the casing 55 constituting the balance beam is free tooscillate in any desired direction 35 relative to the shaft.

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section illustrating the arrangement of thewings, journals, connecting links and swash casing as designed in thecase where three wings are provided. Here the wings 40 6| arearticulatedby means of horizontal pins 62 to the journals 63 which areembraced by the swash casing 64 and connected to the shaft 65 by pairsof links 66, 61. The arrangement of the wings and the casing 65 relativeto the 45 shaft is exactly the same as described with re erence'to Figs.5 and 6.

Another kind of swash arrangement is shown in Figs. 8 and 9, where"three wings 10 are shown as being articulated to the shaft at ll, 12,13. 14 is a. spherical segment mounted on the shaft and I5 is a ringformed with an inner spherical surface which bears on the surface of thespherical segment 14,. thus forming a universal joint. The ring 15 formsthe hub of a disc n, being at its periphery connected with the wings IIby means of rods 11, the connection between the rods l1 and the wingsand disc, respectively, being made by universal (ball) joints 1!.

The modification illustrated in Fig. differs from that shown in Figs. 8and 9 in that the Wings 1!, instead of being articulated to the shaft lldirect, are pivotally connected to it by means of links 8|, which are inturn coupled with the disc "I6 (shown also in Fig. 8) by means of rods"I1 and universal joints I8.

In the flying machine illustrated in Fig. 11 the shaft 81, to which thewings are here shown as being articulated for instance in the mannerillustrated in Fig. 6, is positively connected with an impeller wheel 82by means of cog wheels 88, an intermediate shaft 89 which has a cogwheel 90 mounted on. its "rear end, which meshes with another cog wheel9| mounted on the shaftof the impeller 92, which isdriven either by theair current created by the rotating propelleror by the relative wind.Obviously this impeller, if driven by the propeller wind, before thecraft has been started, will impart rotation to the shaft 81 and thewings articulated to it. During flight therelative wind may causerotation .of the impeller, thereby imparting a certain impulse to thewings also.

The pitch of the blades of the impeller 92 can be adjusted as requiredby a hand gear 83 and connecting rod 94.

Fig. 12 illustrates a modification of the arrangement shown in Fig. 11,theimpeller 95 being here mounted directly to the rear of the propeller96 on a hollow shaft (not shown) embracing the propeller shaft and bymeans of a train of gear wheels 91, 98 is capable of rotating the shaft99 carrying the wings I00. This shaft being operatively connected bymeans of cog wheels illl with an extension I02 of the engine shaft canbe positively driven by the engine if the coupling I03 is thrown in.

I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to theexact details of construction shown'and described, for obviousmodifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

I claim:-

1. Flying machine comprising in combination a fuselage, a balance membermounted on said fuselage for rotatory and free rocking motion and wingsarticulated to said balance member for free oscillatory movementrelative to said member.

2. Flying machine comprising in combination a fuselage, a balance beammounted on said fuselage for rotatory and free rocking motion and wingsarticulated to said balance beam for free oscillatory movement relativeto said beam.

3. Flying machine comprising in combination 2.

fuselage, a swash member mounted on said fuselage for rotatory and freetumbling motion and wings articulated to said swash member for freeoscillatory movement relative to said member.

4. Flying'machine comprising in combination a fuselage, a swash membermounted on said fuselage for rotatory and free tumbling motion, wingsarticulated to said swash member for free oscillatory. movementgrelativeto said member, and means for preventing movement of said wings inplanes other than the planes'containing the axis of rotation of saidswash member.

5. Flying machine comprising in combination a fuselage, a vertical shaftextending upwardly from said fuselage, a balance member mounted on saidshaft for rotatory and free rocking motion, and wings. articulated tosaid balance member for free oscillatory movement relative to saidmemher.

6. Flying machine comprising in combination a fuselage, a vertical shaftextending upwardly from said fuselage, a swash member mounted on saidshaft for rotatory and free tumbling motion and wings articulated tosaid swash member for free oscillatory movement relative to said member.

7. Flying machine comprising in combination a fuselage, a vertical shaftextending upwardly from said fuselage, a swash member mounted on .saidshaft for rotatory and free tumbling motion, wings articulated to saidswash member, an impeller associated with said fuselage and means fortransmitting power from said impeller to said shaft.

8. Flying machine comprising in combination a fuselage, a vertical shaftextending upwardly from said fuselage, a swash member mounted on saidshaft for rotatory and free tumbling motion, wings articulated to saidswash member, an impeller mounted at the tail end of said fuselage, andmeans for transmitting power from said impeller to said shaft.

9. Flying machine comprising in combination a fuselage, a vertical shaftextending upwardly from said fuselage, wings articulated to said shaftfor free motion, a propeller rotatable about a horizontal axis, animpeller to the rear of and close to said propeller, and means fortransmitting 'power from said impeller to said shaft.

10. Flying machine comprising in combination a fuselage, a verticalrotatable shaft extending upwardly from said fuselage, a swash membermounted on said shaft for oscillation in all directions, journalsextending radially to said shaft, links connecting said journals withsaid shaft and preventing rotation of said journals relative to saidshaft, and wings articulated to said journals for oscillation about axesextending at an angle to the journal axes.

' ANTON FLE'IINER.

